Obama's Brain Trust at the EPA: Hey, We've Got a Great Idea; Let's Ban Lead Bullets

Will Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson make a back door move to ban lead bullets the day before the November 2 elections?

Several environmentalist groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) are petitioning the EPA to ban lead bullets and shot (as well as lead sinkers for fishing) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Although EPA is barred by statute from controlling ammunition, CBD is seeking to work farther back along the manufacturing chain and have EPA ban the use of lead in bullets and shot because non-lead alternatives are available. But here's the catch: the alternatives to lead bullets are more expensive. A ban on the sale of lead ammunition would force hunters and sport shooters to buy non-lead ammunition that is often double the cost of traditional lead ammunition. A box of deer hunting bullets in a popular caliber could be upwards of $55.

Of course most rounds are shot at ranges, where the lead is recovered and thus never even comes in contact with the environment. People shoot in the woods, of course -- that's the point -- but they're not sitting there blasting off 100 rounds at a deer.

But by all means, let's continue end-runs around the Constitution and direct violations of the law, all the while accumulating power in the hands of people never elected by anyone. That's the way to go.